Pandora Podcasts now available, with focus on Discovery

It took most of the major streaming services and even platforms to have it, but finally they are bringing podcasts into their fold. We saw Google launch its own Podcast app, Spotify expand and improve its podcast streaming, and now, we also have Pandora adding Podcasts into the things you can listen to in their app. What differentiates it from others though is that they’re focusing on Discovery using their Podcast Genome Project, which draws on from the same tech as their Music Genome Project.

While you probably already have your list of podcasts to listen to every week (or even every day), there are also times when you try to find what to listen to next. That’s where Pandora’s “highly personalized podcast recommendations” come in. The Podcast Genome Project is able to recommend podcasts that they think you will like based on the signals you give the app, like thumbs, skips, collects, plays.

The system uses natural language processing, collaborative filtering, and other machine learning approaches to give you suggested podcasts and even specific episodes. They also have an in-house Curation team that combines with the previously mentioned techniques. The result is that you will see recommendations in the search, browse, and podcast backstage pages.

Just like with what Pandora is known for in music, you can thumbs up episodes you like and that’s a signal for the app to send you more of that kind. But if you thumbs down an episode, they will tweak and adjust their recommendation algorithm to adjust to your tastes.

For those who are podcast creators, you can also apply to have your show and episodes up on Pandora. They will be reviewed and approved individually and you’ll receive notification once they say yes to you. Start listening to podcasts on your Pandora app and let us know what you think about it.